It is oftentimes desirable to inspect a workpiece in order to detect anomalies, such as the effects of corrosion. For example, vehicles, such as aircraft, trains, automobiles and other motor vehicles, and other structures may include a number of structural components that are desirably inspected in order to identify anomalies, such as the effects of corrosion. Although some of the structural components are readily accessible so as to be inspected visually, a number of the structural components, such as the stringers of an aircraft, are positioned in a remote location so as to be hidden from view or to otherwise be of limited access.
In order to inspect these hidden structural components, a structural assembly may be disassembled and, following inspection, may then be reassembled, thereby resulting in substantial expense and downtime. With respect to an aircraft, for example, the disassembly, inspection and subsequent reassembly may require a number of man hours and lead to significant aircraft downtime at a repair depot. In order to avoid disassembly of a structural assembly, non-destructive inspection techniques have been developed, such as radiography, ultrasonic and eddy current inspection techniques. The type of non-destructive inspection technology that is utilized may be dependent upon the type of anomaly to be detected, the type of material to be inspected, the location at which the inspection will occur and the complexity of the structural assembly in and around the location that will be inspected.
Some remote locations of a structural assembly may be prone to corrosion as a result of the intrusion and retention of moisture. Since the need for corrective action, if any, is dependent upon the severity of the corrosion which may, in turn, be measured by the percent of the total thickness of the structure that has been lost due to corrosive activity, radiography may provide a non-destructive inspection technique to facilitate the inspection of such remote locations without disassembly in order to determine the effects of corrosion. In order to non-destructively inspect a structural component using radiography, an x-ray source may be placed on one side of the structural component and an imaging medium may be placed on the other side of the structural component. As such, while the structural assembly need not necessarily be disassembled, access is generally required to both sides, that is, the opposite sides of the structural component to be inspected. While access to the opposite sides of a structural component to be inspected is available in some instances, the opposite sides of some structural components may not be readily accessed and, as such conventional radiographic techniques may be unavailable for non-destructive inspection purposes.